DTs??

[thirdsister]

Hi everyone...it's been a while. My sister Rach used to post here...maybe she still does, I don't know.

My other sister got married last weekend and Rach was great! She wasn't sober, but she held it together and I am so proud of her for that. She didn't try to turn the attention to herself and stayed very positive.

Last night she called me, she said she was mortified at hearing how she had behaved at the wedding. I told her I didn't know what she was talking about. Over the course of the night we exchanged several phone calls and text messages. She was convince my parents had been talking about her all day to relatives and friends, saying she was an embarrassment to the family. She was sobbing. So finally, even though it was very late, I called my parents to ask what was going one...they had no idea what she or I was talking about.

I told Rach something was wrong because Mom and Dad were not talking about her and no one thought she'd been inappropriate at the wedding or the reception. Rach then told me Mom was listening to our phone call and repeating what she said to someone on the other phone line. Then she told me our other sister and her new husband had some how tapped her phone and were listening in.

So, knowing Rach had a doc's appointment today for an anti-depressant, I emailed my Mom and told her about this so she could tell the doctor.

This morning I woke up (late for work after all this late night madness) and discovered two text messages. One from Rach telling me she hadn't slept and was stressed and she couldn't handle me calling her an addict bitch (which I never said). The other message from my Mom telling me to ignore the DTs.

I called my Mom this morning and asked was DTs were and she explained that sometime when someone is going through withdrawal they can have hallucinations and become very paranoid. She said the doctor told her he couldn't do anything for it so it was better to keep her at home. My parents are going to keep Rach until she dries out then take her back to her apartment a couple hours away.

I read online that DTs can be extremely dangerous when it reaches such severity as hallucinations (Rach's are auditory, not visual as far as I know). It even said sometimes DTs can cause heart attack, seizures and sometimes death.

I'm scared.

[LVT25]

DTs??

That would be really frightening. It is def a good idea for her to stay with your parents so they can keep an eye on her. I don't suppose they can do much else except hospitalize her. It's great she has such a supportive sister. Hang in there, I know it must be hard.:l

[thirdsister]

DTs??

Thanks...I'm just feeling low today. Even though Rach did very well at the wedding, there was a little bit of drama. My fiance had some pills there, perocet, darvaset and some tylenol 3s (about 8-10 pills total). Rach found them (she wasn't snooping, she asked me for hair gel and I said to look through Mike's bag because that's where our toiletries were - I had compeltely forgotten about the pills) and she took some to try and ward off the shakes during the wedding and reception.

Well, as often happens at wedding receptions, a lot of people drank too much. Mike got mad when he found out Rach had taken these pills and told some people. Now my parents know. I'm just not sure what to think or how to feel. I think Rach behaved herself and given her struggle with addicition I don't feel it is productive to be upset with her for taking the pills. Now I'm a bit upset with my fiance, Mike, for even bringing them and especially for telling people.

I'm not sure if I need to apologize to my parents for the part we played in Rachael having access to the meds. I'm not sure if it even matters. Mike says I ought not think about it right now because it's too much stress (I'm at work), but we can sort it out later.

I think I really wanted everyone to see Rachael's success, but now it's tainted because they know about the pills. I'm confused about who, if anyone, to be upset with...Rach or Mike? Both? Neither? Is Mike right...maybe I'm over analyzing the relatively minor wedding events because of Rachael's weird phone calls and concerns last night.

Thanks for listening.

[Beaches]

DTs??

Hi, if Rachel is truly suffering from DT's and hallucinations your parents need to get her medical attention and not from the doctor you are referring too. That is very serious and could lead to seizures etc. she doesn't need to be confined to a house.
Please try and get her some help.

[thirdsister]

DTs??

Beaches...that's why I'm so scared. I didn't know about DTs. My mom was a RN for almost 20 years (though that was almost 20 years ago now). She didn't sound like they had any intentions of taking her to the hospital. They have taken her before, a few times, and the hospital never does anything for her. They put some fluids in her, talk about placing her in treatment but it never happens. There are such limited resources. How can I do something when I'm thousands of miles away? What can I say to my parents? Who can I call? This is soo freaking me out right now....what do I do??

[CS04]

DTs??

Thirdsis,
I don't know much about DTs either. Is she still taking the pills form your fiance's bag? Perhaps she is having a reaction to taking them together with AL (alcohol). I had recently been thinking of your sister Rachael, as she has not posted here in some time and I have been concerned about her (I used to live in her city; I now live in another city in Ohio). I am glad you are concerned and taking steps toward her well-being. Please keep us posted.

[thirdsister]

DTs??

That's a good question. Mike and I each took one the night before, which would leave about 8 pills (I know we didn't have more than 10 total). Mike took 1 or 2 the day of the wedding and said Rachael left 1 pill in the bag...so at most she would have had possession of 6 pills. I'm not sure how many she took the day/night of the wedding.

Last night, after I talked to my parents and then told Rachael they WEREN'T talking about her, she hung up. She later called me back and said she was very sorry and embarrassed because she had not been sleeping well at all during the last week with all the wedding stuff and that she'd had 2 glasses of wine during dinner last night. She said she then went upstairs and must have fallen asleep. She said she realized what she thought was everyone talking about her was really a dream, but when she woke up she'd been so upset by it she thought it had actually happened and that's when she called me the first time last night.

Dr. Phil says if you find one rat, there are 50 more you're not seeing. My Mom told me she thought Rachael had been upstairs most of the night and they assumed she was drinking. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I just don't understand. Rach has gone cold turkey before and not had such a bad reaction. Plus, from her own addmittance, she WAS drinking last night...so how can she have DTs when she's been drinking a least a couple drinks almost everday since last Wednesday??

I feel so confused and frustrated. My fiance pointed out something very interesting...according to Rachael's 'dream/nightmare' everyone (including Mike) bad mouthed her...everyone except me and her friend Sean (and we were the two people she called upon waking up thinking it had all actually happened). I love that my sister feels like she can trust me...problem is...I can't trust her. I feel stuck in the middle between the rest of my family and Rachael. This sucks!

[thirdsister]

DTs??

After doing a bit more research...I think what Rachy was experiencing is more likely alcoholic hallucinosis, not delirium tremens.

According to Wikipedia alcoholic hallucinosis is a rare complication of withdrawal that develops about 12-24 hours after drinking. It involves auditory hallucinations, most commonly accusatory or threatening voices. It develops and resolves itself rapidly, involves a limited set of hallucinations and has no other physical symptoms. The risk of developing this is increased by long term, heavy alcohol abuse and the use of illicit drugs.

This is very distinct and different than delirium tremens or DTs which are usually visual or tactile hallucinations (pink elephants, feeling like bugs are crawling over your skin, etc). DTs are very dangerous and in treated cases there is a still a 5% mortality rate, 35% if left untreated.

My Mom just called me at work and said Rach is awake and acting totally normal. I explained to my Mom what I had just found out about DTs versus alcoholic hallucinosis. I explained what pills Mike and I had and that Rach had taken 6-7 of them. I then tried to apologize for our poor decision making on having them in the first place, let alone having them where Rach could get to them. She is, of course, less than happy with me and Mike (who can blame her), but relieved that she knows what happened.

Aside from being happy my sister isn't in mortal danger, I feel TERRIBLE that my parents are probably now worrying about me and my fiance and that we have drug and/or alcohol problems. Which...I can't say this event hasn't given me some doubt into our own behaviors. He without sin...right?

Ugh! What a day!

You all are the best...thanks for letting me vent and sort all of this out. Please keep our ENTIRE family in your thoughts and prayers.

[bloggy]

DTs??

Third- You and your family are in my prayers.

I hope some good comes out of what seems to be a bad situation- somehow I feel it will.


I was thinking of Rachel just the other day- in the last few weeks lots of new information has come up on the board concerning baclofen and naltrexone.

More success stories are now appearing- some of us just can't stop without meds- maybe Rachel also could find success, particularly as she is still young and unlikely to suffer many side effects.

Could you maybe mention this and ask her to come back and have a read?

[thirdsister]

DTs??

Marbella,
I plan on calling Rachael tonight when I get home for work to find out how she is feeling, and to express my regret over the decision Mike and I made by bringing those drugs into the house. I will let her know about the Baclofen and Naltrexone.

The one big problem there is that she has no job and therefore no money. My parents have supported her since she returned from El Salvador in December of 2007. They have paid for therapy, meds, hospital visits, a year in an apartment, etc, etc.

The lease on the apartment is up at the end of this month and Rach, to my knowledge, still hasn't found a place to stay.

I suggested the Peace Corp because she loves travelling, she's an experienced teacher and she's fantastic with kids. She said they wouldn't take her and it wouldn't be fair to them since she isn't well. I suggested letting them make that decision, but she just won't even try.

We are all fairly sure she doesn't believe my parents will completely cut her off financially at the end of the month and that's why she isn't looking into other options like Americorp, peace corp, army, homeless shelters, roommates, ... anything to avoid being homeless!

I don't know what's going to happen to my beautiful sister. I hope she finds herself again. I hope this 'rock bottom' that coming up, really does help.

I will do my best to keep everyone up to date on her as I'm pretty sure my parents' will continue paying for her cell phone since it's part of our family plan so I should be able to reach her on that.

Some very hard terrain is in our family's future. I hope we come out on the other side.

[LilBit]

DTs??

Third Sister, from another "third sister" you are in my thoughts and prayers. It's extremely hard to stand by and watch someone you love self-destruct. There is never a concrete line of knowing when to step in and help them, and when to let them learn to deal with Life (except of course, when they are in immediate danger). Usually, it's an ongoing soul struggle, one that you agonize over and then second guess after you've made it. My own sister has been up and down, in and out, sane and....well, you get the picture. There was a time period when she was meeting strange men in bars and going back to their hotel rooms with them. She woke up once, after having a seizure, and the guy had cleared out. This was a scary time for the rest of the family, just as the time you're going through now is for you. All I can offer is some understanding, prayers, and hope that you'll remain strong, not blame yourself when it's not your fault, and endure, and that your sister will come round -- safe and whole -- in the end. Many of us on this site can tell you that our guardian angels work overtime! I hope that is the case with your sister's, too.

:l

LilBit

[thirdsister]

DTs??

Thank you LilBit. Coming here is such a comfort. Knowing we're not alone in this and that there is a community like this ready to lend an ear and a shoulder : )

[cacky]

DTs??

Thirdsis; you are probably right about the hallucenations. can you talk to her about going into treatment?

[thirdsister]

DTs??

I'm pretty sure she would go...it's just a matter of finding treatment that is affordable and available. Like I said before, my parents seem done with footing the bill when she hasn't shown much progress in the past and continues to lie and hide things from them. Does anyone know of treatment facilities for people without income or health insurance??

I've seriously considered writing in to a show like Intervention or even Dr Phil just on a hope and prayer that they may send her to treatment. However, I don't think Rach would want to go quite so public with her problems...and who can blame her? That's gotta be, aside from the addiction itself, one of the HARDEST and most ANNOYING parts of any addicition... the talking, the gossip.

That's actually one thing my family has become SOOO much better on. We used to be consumed with Rachael and her problems. It seemed like not a get together could go by where we didn't find the converstaion turning towards Rachael. And of course we always had the answers and solutions to the problems...if only she'd listen to us! (ha! I know better now) But not anymore. I think all of us have realized that does more harm than good, for all of us. It's not healthy for anyone to be so consumed. I suppose that's part of co-dependency, we become addicted to the addiction and to the afflicted person.

Anyway...absolutely I believe Rachael would go to rehab or whatever, we just need to find a place that would take her and that will treat people without insurance. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THESE PLACES EXIST!!

[cacky]

DTs??

Thirdsis, im not sure but i think you can call hospitals; or a hotline somewhere to find out where there are treatment facilities for people with no insurance and no money. around here you get detoxed and there are some great Sober Living or Halfway houses. One of them is called the Limen house. I believe the folks there dont pay for their housing. They are held to strict rules and get tested alot to make sure they aren't using. There may be a good place like that around where your sis lives too. People that i know from there swear it saved their lives.